


Child Line

by naasad



Category: Critical Role (Web Series)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Family, Amnesia, Angst, Arguing, Autistic Yasha, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Mama Nott, Things Said In Anger
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-01-02
Updated: 2019-01-04
Packaged: 2019-10-02 18:57:32
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 1,702
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17269247
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/naasad/pseuds/naasad
Summary: Jester picks up one of Molly's swords during a fight. - ABANDONED





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> First fic for Critical Role, please review! Also, I have only watched up through episode 16, so please no spoilers. There are a few I haven't been able to avoid, and I'd like to keep the rest at bay as much as I can.
> 
> This should be three chapters, but maybe two???

It was nothing – or it seemed like nothing at the time. Molly did it all the time, maybe it would work for her, too. Maybe it was less the family line and more the Tiefling blood.

Jester dashed over to his prone body, picked up one of his swords, and drew it across the back of her hand. Blessedly, the blade began to glow. “Hey ugly!” she shouted at the wraith and threw the sword at the urn in the nearby corner.

Yasha stared in shock.

“What?” Jester asked, going over to pick up the sword.

“Wait, what?” Caleb muttered, eyes wide. “ich glaub’ ich spinne….”

Molly stirred, groaning.

“I killed the bad guy for you!” Jester cheered. “Do you want me to heal you?”

Molly gaped at the glowing scimitar in her still-bleeding hand and promptly collapsed back on the ground. “I’m just going to lay here a while.”

Caleb walked over to his boyfriend and held him close. “soll ich es ihr erklären?”

Jester pouted. It really wasn’t fair when Molly, Nott, and Caleb started speaking Zemnian. She was going to learn Comprehend Languages as soon as she possibly could.

“nein,” Molly said.

For some reason, he was shaking.

“noch nicht.” He stood and took the sword from Jester. “Thank you.”

Jester beamed. “Are you sure you don’t want me to cure you?”

Molly smiled – a little awkwardly compared to usual. “Do you even have any spells left?”

Jester shrugged. “I have one.”

Molly shook his head and reached out and… patted her shoulder. “You shouldn’t be the one looking out for me.” He limped away, stumbling but Caleb caught him, stroking his hair.

“komm mit mir, mein Liebling.”

Jester stared after them. “What does that mean?”

“Come with me,” Nott translated. She screwed up her face. “’My love’.”

That wasn’t the question, but Jester shrugged and skipped after them. “I’ll find out,” she vowed.

Once they’d returned to the Leaky Tap, she pulled a pastry out of her pocket and knocked on Caleb’s door, knowing he was still downstairs.

Molly answered the door, looking tired and run down.

“You’re acting weird,” she said, handing him the stale Danish, “ever since I picked up your sword. Is that why? Cause I can not touch it ever again, if that’s what you want, but I did save us from the bad guy.”

Molly sighed.

“I’m just going to keep asking.”

“I know.” He stepped aside, gesturing for her to come into the room. “I’ll tell you.”

Jester perched on the bed, sitting on her hands, wiggling back and forth. “So what is it?”

Molly opened his mouth, then closed it. He ran his hands through his hair and tugged on his horns. “Do you remember when we first met, you said you’re looking for your father?”

Jester nodded, it was all she could think about lately. She had done so very little looking.

“I don’t think you’re going to find him.”

Jester froze and stood. “Fuck you, Molly!”

“No, no!” Molly groaned and covered his face. “My swords… only work on my family line. The enchanter at the circus, that’s how he Identified them.”

Jester nodded, because she understood. “But being another Tiefling was enough.”

“No, Jester.” Molly looked so sad. “No.”

It took her a moment to realize.

“Whoever I was before… he must’ve been your father.”

Jester squealed and picked him up off the ground, twirling around and bouncing him in her arms before setting him back on his feet. “You told me! You told me when we met! I had all the clues already! Do I call you dad now? This is great! Now we just have to get you to remember and then we can all be happy together!”

Molly took a half-step back, took a deep breath, and crossed his arms.

Jester knew that look. No. No….

“I don’t want to remember.”

“But why not? You said you didn’t want to remember because that guy was an asshole, but my mom said you were actually really kind.”

“And you never thought maybe I lied to her?”

Jester snorted. “Nobody lies to the Ruby of the Sea.”

“Don’t you think maybe you have a biased view?”

“Why don’t you want to be happy?”

“I was happy!” Molly threw his arms in the air. “I was so happy not knowing. It’s my life – Mine! Not his!”

“Well, it’s my life, now, too, I’m your daughter!”

“His daughter! His!”

Jester took a step forward, shouting right back. “Well, he’s not here, is he?!”

“I don’t want you!” Molly yelled.

Jester recoiled as if slapped.

Molly took a deep breath. “I don’t want any daughter. That’s my choice to make. My life, my decisions.”

“Fuck you.” Jester’s voice cracked, and she furiously blinked back tears. “Fuck you, Molly. Fuck you, fuck you, fuck you. I’m here and you can’t wish me away.”

Molly snorted and tossed his head. “Watch me.”

Jester sobbed. “You’re right. You are a dick.” She turned on her heel and strode over to the door, yanking it open. “You’re probably just like him.”

Outside, she found the entire rest of the Mighty Nein listening in. Only Caleb and Fjord had the good grace to look ashamed.

Her face burned and she ran to her room.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I literally cried writing the first half of this. Please review and tell me whether or not you did, too.

Jester buried her face in her pillow, stifling her cries as best as she could. She flopped over and brought the symbol of the Traveler up to her forehead, weeping against the cool metal. “Why?” she sobbed. “Why doesn’t he want me? I spent so long looking…. Why? Please. Please, tell me you’re still here. Let me know that you’re watching. I need you.”

There was a knock at the door.

Jester wiped her face and sat up. “Who is it?”

“Can I come in?” came Nott’s thin voice.

Jester opened the door, trying to clean her face, still her tears. “Come in.”

They sat on the edge of the bed in silence for a while, then Nott leaned over, wrapping her arms around Jester’s waist. “Is this okay?”

Jester nodded wordlessly, simply wrapped her arms around the goblin, squishing them together.

Nott squeaked. “Okay, maybe that’s a little too much of that!” She wriggled away.

“Sorry.”

“I know.” Nott patted Jester’s knee. “Caleb is talking to Molly. You both said some things that weren’t okay.”

Jester nodded, throat tight again. She crossed her arms and leaned back. “It hurts so bad. I just wanted to hurt him right back.”

“Well, you certainly did that.”

“I just-ˮ Jester pressed her fingers into her eyes, failing to school her wobbling chin. “I just want him to love me. Can you imagine having a father that doesn’t love you? It was different when he didn’t know I existed, but now….”

Nott nodded and stared at the opposite wall. “I don’t need to,” she finally said.

“What?”

Nott shrugged. “I don’t need to imagine having parents that don’t love me. Goblins aren’t exactly known for their loving kindness.”

“Oh. I’m sorry.”

“I’m used to it. But I have Caleb now. And the rest of the group.”

Jester nodded, and they fell into silence.

After a long moment, Nott looked up, suddenly fierce. “I think you’re wrong though.”

Jester raised an eyebrow. “About what?”

“Molly does love you. He doesn’t love you as a daughter, true, but he loves you as a dear friend. Can that be enough for you?”

Jester’s face crumbled. “I don’t know.”

Nott nodded. “You don’t have to figure it out right now, but you should probably think about it.”

“Why is he so scared to remember anyway?”

Nott pursed her lips in thought. “Well, I imagine when you’re two years old, everything’s scary.”

Jester giggled.

Nott grinned, then solemned. “To be honest though, I’m pretty sure I heard him tell you why.”

Jester frowned, trying to remember the argument was like trying to see through a brick wall. She rubbed her temples, suddenly aware of the ache in them.

Nott offered her flask. “Do you need a drink?”

Jester shook her head. “Is he afraid of turning into someone he’s not?”

“I think so,” Nott agreed.

“But that doesn’t make any sense. I mean, technically, Molly is just someone Lucien is not.”

Nott shrugged and took a swig of her flask. “Maybe. But Molly’s here now, whether you want him to be or not, and there’s not much you can do about it. Just like you’re here now, whether he wants you to be or not. You’ll have to learn to live with each other somehow.”

Jester groaned and flopped back dramatically. “Ugh, I hate it that you’re right.”

Nott snickered, shaking her head. “You two are so alike, how did none of us ever notice that before?”

Jester reached out to knock her upside the head, but she dodged. “Could I have that drink now?”

Nott wordlessly passed over her flask.

“Should I go talk to him?”

Nott shrugged. “If you want, but I wouldn’t yet. I’d give it a day or two. You’re both still hurt, right?”

Jester nodded. “Sleepover?” she asked.

Nott nodded and stood on the bed, taking out her copper wire and casting her cantrip, pointing at the door. “We’re having a sleepover, do you have the supplies?”

Yasha and Beau barreled through the door, arms piled high with blankets, pillows, and pastries.

“Is this where the party’s at?” Beau asked, dumping her items in the middle of the floor. She put a hand on Jester’s shoulder. “Really though, I’m on both of your sides, but what he said was fucked up.”

Jester smiled gratefully and looked over to Yasha. “Are you mad at me?”

Yasha frowned, thinking hard. “I think… this is a tricky situation. I don’t think I can really be mad at either of you. I am… upset because both of you are upset, but I’m not upset at either of you. I don’t think.”

Nott cleared her throat and pointed to the pillows and blankets. “Excuse me, but this pillow fort isn’t going to build itself!”

Jester shared a look with the other two girls and then laughed and bounded forward. “We are going to make the best pillow fort ever!”

**Author's Note:**

> I try not to abandon stories, but this one just wasn't going the way I wanted, and I was really struggling to write it. The fic I did manage to write on this premise can be found [here](https://archiveofourown.org/works/17417249). In the meantime, if anyone wants to adopt this, they are more than welcome.


End file.
